For the topping

Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…

50g light muscovado sugar

100g plain flour

100g flaked almond

3 tbsp golden syrup

85g icing sugar, sieved

2-3 tsp orange juice

Method

Soak all the dried fruit in the orange juice for 2 hrs, or overnight.

Butter and line a 20 x 30cm tin with baking parchment. Heat oven to 160C/ 140C fan/gas 3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time; mix well between each addition.

Sift the flour into the bowl and mix in the ground almonds and spices. Add the marzipan chunks, zest and dried fruit with any remaining juice, and give everything a good stir to combine.

Tip the cake mix into the prepared tin, level the surface, and bake for 45 mins – the cake may still be a little gooey in the centre at this point. Remove from the oven and increase the heat to 200C/ 180C fan/gas 6.

Make the topping. Rub the butter, sugar and flour together with your fingers to a crumbly breadcrumb texture. Grate in 200g reserved marzipan, add the flaked almonds and golden syrup. Mix everything with a fork, making sure it stays crumbly and doesn’t clump. Sprinkle over the cake and return to the oven for 12-15 mins. Meanwhile, divide the rest of the marzipan into 11 and roll into balls.

Remove the cake from the oven once cooked through, arrange the marzipan balls on top and allow to cool in the tin. Mix the icing sugar with enough orange juice to give a runny icing, drizzle it all over the cake, then let it set a little before slicing it.

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Comments, questions and tips

Comments (20)

cshobbs26th Apr, 2013

5

This is fantastic! I baked this just after Easter, so omitted the marzipan balls and icing. The cake is very rich and filling, and easily divides into a lot more than 15 portions, so next time I'll make a half quantity.

Not sure about this one. As others have said, it's extremely sweet, and that was without the icing and golden syrup. The crumble topping was also not what I was hoping - the marzipan got very chewy and almost burnt, and when it was cooked the topping just fell off. Not sure it can really qualify as simnel cake, and I don't think I'll be making this again.

My friend said this is the most delicious cake she has ever tasted. Definitely only for marzipan fans. It is fabulous and I will make it again. I will probably choose it as my Christmas cake. I left out the syrup and it was still very sweet.

I made this for Easter and used a 28cm x 28cm roasting tin which was the perfect size. It was enjoyed by all the family but I personally thought the addition of the marzipan to the cake mix made it a bit sweet. I would definitely try the suggestion about adding the golden syrup after spreading the topping on the cake as it was difficult stop it from clumping, or omit it altogether, if I made it again. A special occasion cake as it is quite expensive to make and a bit time consuming.

Just made this and it was very yummy and easy to do. I made it in a 28X18cm tin and that was fine. I also added some grand marnier to the mixture (1 tsp) as I forgot to soak the raisins and I thought it would give it something extra.I reduced the sugar to 175g in the cake but kept the amounts the same for the topping, although I didn't add the golden syrup.I didn't have any dried apricots so I just added more raisins and that worked well too.

Definitely worth a go but it's very rich. Definitely for special occasions!

Really great recipe. I made this to take round to my mothers for easter monday and she loved it! I had trouble trying to stop the crumble topping clumping together but it still tasted great. Very happy with this recipe, although time-consuming, its worth it!

This was absolutely stunning! Used a knife to "cut" the golden syrup through the topping mixture. Even without the topping it would be delicious and I may do that on a regular basis. Nothing else to add except that some-one keeps raiding the cake tin!

Great recipe - made twice. 2nd time used a larger shallower tin which worked well. Also used `Doves` gluten free flour. The topping works fine if you gently work with a fork. Decorated top with marzipan balls & mini eggs, browned marzipan with a blow torch & drizzled icing over. Yum!

A great new take on Simnel Cake. Made it withiout the icing which was fine and cut the squares smaller. A small piece of Wensleydale cheese goes very well with the cake. Excellent for people who like marzipan. Will make again.

I am a little confused about the method for the topping. If you add any type of liquid, in this case golden syrup, to a crumble mix it will clump together. I have made it using just 1 tbls of syrup as it seemed to be a lot of sweetness. Still clumped but looks good. Not eaten yet. That's for tomorrow!

My son has just made this at school for his GCSE Food Tech. He had to make something from an Easter recipe. Although the ingredients were quite expensive the finished cake was well worth it. Absolutely delicious even the nut and marzipan hating members of the family loved it.

Made this gorgeous interpretation of a simnel cake for the family. Absolutely delicious! It is quite time-consuming with all the soaking, mixing, baking, topping, baking again and icing stages (kitchen smells wonderful!) but it is amazingly irresistible and I will make it again, possibly experimenting with a slightly larger tin to make a greater number of shallower tray bakes which might go down better with the weight watchers!! Yum!

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